The Multitaskers

Write an email, light a cigar and accidentally hang-up on the attorney

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I'M ONE OF THE BETTER multitaskers out there, and I'm not very good. Sure, I can say, "Action!" and while Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are acting their hearts out, I can write an e-mail, light a cigar, and check my vibrating phone to see who's calling, but I end up pressing the send button before editing out the anger, in addition to accidentally hanging up on my lawyer and having to be nudged by the assistant director to yell a confident "Cut! That was great. We'll do one more." Try to do too many things and none of them are done very well. It's the same problem with a lot of new electronic devices: They do a bunch of tasks adequately but none perfectly.

A recent example of this is [1] Sony Ericsson's new K790 camera phone ($500; sonyericsson.com). It is the first camera phone with three megapixels available in the U. S., and it also has an actual flash instead of a dim light. The results, once the shutter eventually releases and takes a photo, are sharp, contrasty, and excellent. But it is profoundly slow. Robin Williams tells me that seven out of eight photos taken of him on the street or in clubs are with cell phones. The problem with the Sony Ericsson is that the delay to focus is so, so long that Robin would be out the door and down the block by the time this thing clicked. I'm not talking about shutter lag here; I'm talking about a painfully slow focus mechanism. Sure, you can get on the Web, download e-mails, and use it as a music player, but there are better Web browsers, better ways of sending and receiving e-mails, and better music players. It's also a tad bulky, due to a sliding door designed to protect the camera's lens. If, however, you want one device that does all of the above, although in that superficial multitasking way, this is not terrible, especially if you're into shooting still lifes.

I also tested the excellent [2] Sidekick 3 ($350 with a one-year contract; t-mobile.com), the BlackBerry for tweens and rap stars. The improvements on the new Sidekick are more evolutionary than revolutionary, which is fine, since it was quite good to begin with. The Sidekick 3 has a much better camera than the previous model (1.3 megs), uses Edge technology to connect to the Web (much faster), has replaceable batteries and a mini SD card for both the music player and storing photos, and comes with built-in instant messaging for the three major purveyors. And you can wirelessly connect to your computer to update the address book and calendar using Intellisync. It is simply the best e-mail device for someone not connected to a corporate e-mail system with a Microsoft Exchange server.

So what's wrong with the thing?

Personally, I wish it had a second keypad on the back. Most of the times I dial phone numbers, I rely on muscle memory. I'm not a big fan of having to dial a phone number on a full QWERTY keypad, and that's what you're offered on the Kick. Add a numbered keypad to this and it's the best multitasker out there.

Barry Sonnenfeld is the director of The Addams Family, Get Shorty, Men in Black, and RV.

THE ENDORSEMENT: THE HOME URINAL

SWEETIE (THE WIFE) WAS OPPOSED TO IT. Victoria Hagan, the famous interior designer, smiled at me, nodded, and desperately hoped Sweetie would talk me out of it. But I won them over. Now, ten years later, I've put a total of five urinals in our homes. Here's why both husbands and wives want these babies: They end one of the most recurring fights in a marriage--seat up or seat down. If you own a urinal, the seat is always down. It's also just plain fun. Occasionally, after a party, depending on how drunk I am, I'll dump ice in it and see how much I can melt. The Kohler Bardon Touchless is the way to go. It has both a motion and moisture sensor, so it won't flush every time you walk by. Just don't do what I did in my office bathroom: place it directly opposite the toilet. It's dreary sitting down and staring, eye level, at a urinal. $1,259; kohler.com. --B. S.